Dallas Opera taps world-renowned composer for new holiday opera

Dallas Opera taps world-renowned composer for new holiday opera

Mark Adamo will create a new holiday opera for the Dallas Opera in 2015.
Photo courtesy of Dallas Opera

Opera fans got an early holiday present when the Dallas Opera announced that renowned composer-librettist Mark Adamo would create a new holiday work for the company. The opera, to be titled Young Santa Claus, is scheduled to premiere in December 2015 at the Winspear Opera House.

Adamo gained worldwide fame in 1998 when his debut opera, ​Little Women, premiered for the Houston Grand Opera. Based on the novel by Louisa May Alcott, it has become one of the most frequently performed modern operas.

Mark Adamo gained worldwide fame in 1998 for his debut, ​Little Women, which has become one of the most frequently performed modern operas.

Young Santa Claus will be Adamo's fourth complete opera; his other works include 2005's Lysistrata​, which played in Fort Worth in 2012, and 2013's The Gospel of Mary Magdalene, which premiered in San Francisco earlier this year.

The new opera is one of a string of new works commissioned recently by the Dallas Opera. 2010 saw the premiere of Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s Moby-Dick, and two other new operas will premiere in 2015: Great Scott from composer Heggie and librettist Terrence McNally, and Everest, the debut opera by British composer Joby Talbot, working with librettist Scheer.

Young Santa Claus will be a part of the 2015-2016 Dallas Opera season, along with Great Scott, which premieres in October 2015. Everest will be part of the 2014-2015 season, as it is scheduled to premiere in February 2015.

Mark Adamo will create a new holiday opera for the Dallas Opera in 2015.
Photo courtesy of Dallas Opera